The Atlantis: The Kriegsmarine’s Last Corsair
By David LippmanIn her previous life, she had been the Hansa-line freighter Goldenfels. She was launched in 1937 and displaced 7,862 tons. Read more
Martyr Village: Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane
By Robert MuellerUpon visiting Oradour-sur-Glane, one finds a quiet, rural French village where the populace carries on about its business much like in any commune in France. Read more
The Hossbach Memorandum
By Blaine TaylorOn June 24, 1937, German Minister of War Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg issued a directive marked Top Secret with only four copies to be made, the first for himself and the other three for the heads of the armed forces of the Third Reich. Read more
USS Murphy: Long Service in Wartime
By William B. AllmonEighty miles off the coast of New Jersey and 280 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean lies the forward section of a World War II destroyer, where it came to rest more than 60 years ago. Read more
ANZACs at Maleme
By David H. Lippman“Maleme. 20th May, 1941. Usual Mediterranean summer day. Cloudless sky, no wind, extreme visibility; e.g., details on mountains 20 miles to the southeast easily discernible.” Read more
The National World War II Museum
By Peter SuciuOpened on June 6, 2000, on the 56th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the National D-Day Museum, as it was then known, initially focused on the amphibious invasion of Normandy. Read more
The PTRS 41 and Other and Russian Anti-Tank Rifles
By Robert CashnerEver since the tank appeared on the battlefield during World War I, armies the world over have sought to field man-portable infantry antitank weapons to give the infantryman a viable defense against the metal monsters. Read more
The Cuban Missile Crisis: On the Brink of Nuclear War
By Peter KrossFor 13 tension-filled days in October 1962, the world came closer to nuclear war than it has ever come before or since. Read more
The Proximity Fuse: The Gunner’s Dream Finally Became Realized
By Kevin AllenEarly on the morning of December 16, 1944, the commander of the U.S. 406th Artillery Group, Colonel George Axelson, had a difficult decision to make. Read more
Why Are There So Few Civil War Films?
By Roy Morris Jr.World War II, America’s last “good war,” has always been a fruitful source for homegrown moviemakers. Beginning with the wartime movies that shamelessly if sincerely promoted American efforts to rally against the fascist evils of Germany, Italy, and Japan, the silver screen gave audiences stirring depictions of brave GIs risking and sacrificing their lives for the greater good. Read more
Reel War: The Evolution of the American War Film
By Philip Burton MorrisThe first truly realistic American films of World War II began with a flourish familiar to any moviegoing audience at the time: a hand-drawn company logo introduced by musical fanfare. Read more
What Makes Great Commanders Great?
By Richard A. GabrielOf the thousands of commanders who have served in history’s armies, why is it that only a few are remembered as great leaders of men in battle? Read more
The Russo-Finnish War: Why Stalin Tried to Invade Finland
By Arnold BlumbergPrior to the Russo-Finnish War, problems were already setting in for Russia and Germany. The hugely cynical German-Soviet nonaggression pact, concluded in August 1939, assigned the Baltic region of eastern Europe to the exclusive sphere of influence of Communist Russia. Read more
Opening Moves on the Rio Grande: The Relief of Fort Texas
By David A. NorrisThe hot days at Fort Texas were about to get a lot hotter. For days, the men of the 7th U.S. Read more
Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Italian Red Shirts
By Louis CiotolaIn the spring of 1860, when Giuseppe Garibaldi became Dictator of Sicily, Italy was a confusing conglomerate of states, divided between Piedmont-Sardinia and Austrian Venetia in the north, the Papal States in the middle, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, centered in Naples, in the south. Read more
Bomber Gunner Ben Kuroki: “Most Honorable Son”
By Sam McGowanIn 1942, many Americans considered anyone of Japanese ancestry to be an enemy, regardless of where they had been born or how long their families had lived in the United States. Read more
Baghdad’s 1941 Regime
By John W. Osborn, Jr.A dangerous outlaw regime sits in power in Baghdad; the leader of one of the world’s superpowers decides it has to be removed at all costs; an army marches across the desert to topple it. Read more
Pacific Merchant Marine
By Dr. Carl H MarcouxThe American war in the Pacific proved to be largely a maritime endeavor. Fighting consisted of widespread naval battles between the two major opponents followed by American invasions of Japanese-held island bases. Read more
The Concrete Fleet of WWII
By Brandt HeatheringtonIt is a fact that war has sparked some amazing innovations. It has at the same time spawned incredible desperation. Read more
Three Times’ a Charm: A POW’s Journey From the Philippines to Nagasaki
By J.C. HannaThe Great Depression greatly affected millions of Americans during the 1930s, and my father, Chad Hanna, was no exception. Read more
